Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Since we have been home I have not taken even one picture of our whole family together. When we have all been together I simply have not thought about taking one. About 2 weeks ago I found two reasons why I needed to take one ASAP!

Reason 1 - Katie's preschool asked us for one so that they can post it on the door of the classroom for the children to see.

Reason 2 - We are attending our agency CNY celebration in Tampa and they show a slide show during lunch of the children then(at referral) and now along with a family picture.

OK, now I have a mission - I must get a picture and I need it NOW!

Obstacles to that mission:

Mom and Dad (That is me and Marc) are either shuttling Ethan to a therapy or music class or taking Katie to school as well as juggling work schedules with each other and assorted other errands or duties that have to be done - our schedule is truly ridiculous right now!

Ethan and Katie - They are either at one of the above activities or playgroup and if they are at home they never seem to be dressed for a picture or clean enough for one.

Justin - He is always at school and if he comes home before the kiddos go to bed then they are usually covered in food at dinner or in the bath or in their PJ's.

OK, I know it sounds truly ludicrous but that is really how life is right now.

So at 7:00 this morning as I was in the shower I remembered that I HAD to get that picture and I needed it by Friday which is the deadline for the CNY event. I knew that Marc would not be home for the rest of the week at the same time as Justin would be home....I got out of the shower and Marc had already gotten the kiddos up and had begun dressing them. I told him to jump in the shower while I finished dressing them as we were going to take this picture NOW before Justin left for school at 7:45 am.

Now comes the fun part ~

Where is the camera???

Are we gonna pull out the tripod or wing it with something else?

Who's gonna be the one to tell Justin? (He is not that pleasant in the morning..oy!)

Where the hell is the camera???

Marc: "Lori, are you ready?" As I am throwing on a shirt and brushing my hair at the same time!!

Justin: "What?!! We are gonna take a picture now?!?"

Lori: "Yes, we are; come sit down and take off that grungy sweat jacket!" Oh believe me Justin looked thrilled with that statement, took off his sweat jacket and threw it behind him dramatically to make his point. Of course you know I loved that...sheesh!!

Marc: "How do you set this timer again?" as he is squinting because he does not have his reading glasses on.

Lori: "Crap; let me look at that, I will do it!" I then proceed to try and cannot figure it out. "Marc, you messed up the settings!" Of course he did since I could not figure it out (smirk)

Tick Tick Tick, that is the minutes ticking away before Justin tells me to forget it and leaves for school.

Somehow Marc figures it out and then we sit trying to make the kids smile and laugh while the timer is blinking in front of us and we are all trying to look happy for the picture. I think the kids really were happy, Marc and I were both pulling it off if I do say so myself but Justin was not quite there.

Here is the final result of that mess. What do you think besides the fact that we should have our heads examined? Which one is the winner?

Please, please, please if you have any mercy please pick a winner and not a do over.

Take One (Oh no, they can see we have no shoes on! They will also see the stacking cups on the floor!)

Take Two (Lori is a LITTLE animated)Take Three (Justin looks thrilled doesn't he? Lori seems to be praying here and where is the rest of the family?Take Four (Getting there except E looking at Gabby the Chihuahua) Somehow Justin has the grungy sweat jacket back on again :(Take Five (is this the winner?)

Hee hee, that was a funny story Lori (although you're probably not laughing about it yet I needed a smile today)! Picture #5 looks great. I wish we could join you for the big CNY party. We'll be thinking of you.

Stress is the New Black

We are Lori and Marc; Two 50 something parents of Justin (28) an attorney married to Judy a teacher, Katie Starr (7) and Ethan (7), our virtual twins adopted from the Peoples Republic of China. Having virtual twins is very interesting to put it mildly. Yeah, we are a little stressed out but we do have loads of fun as well. Come and visit us from time to time to get a taste of the madness.